Recently, Attorney-General K.K. Venugopal has given his consent to initiate contempt of court proceedings against artist Rachita Taneja for her tweets and cartoons. The prior consent in writing of the Attorney General is required for the Supreme Court to initiate criminal contempt action in a case according to the Contempt of Court Act, 1971 . Hence, Statement 2 is not correct . Attorney-General's consent is a form of check on the much-debated suo-motu power of criminal contempt. Attorney General of India : The Constitution ( Article 76 ) has provided for the office of the Attorney General for India. He is the highest law officer in the country . APPOINTMENT AND TERM : The Attorney General (AG) is appointed by the president. He must be a person who is qualified to be appointed a judge of the Supreme Court. In other words, he must be a citizen of India and he must have been a judge of some high court for five years or an advocate of some high court for ten years or an eminent jurist, in the opinion of the president. The term of office of the AG is not fixed by the Constitution . Further, the Constitution does not contain the procedure and grounds for his removal . S/he holds office during the pleasure of the president. This means that S/he may be removed by the president at any time . S/he may also quit his office by submitting his resignation to the president. Conventionally, She/he resigns when the government (council of ministers) resigns or is replaced, as he is appointed on its advice . The remuneration of the AG is not fixed by the Constitution. He receives such remuneration as the President may determine. DUTIES AND FUNCTIONS : As the chief law officer of the Government of India, the duties of the AG include the following: To give advice to the Government of India upon such legal matters, which are referred to him by the president. To perform such other duties of a legal character that are assigned to him by the president. To discharge the functions conferred on him by the Constitution or any other law. The president has assigned the following duties to the AG : To appear on behalf of the Government of India in all cases in the Supreme Court in which the Government of India is concerned. To represent the Government of India in any reference made by the president to the Supreme Court under Article 143 of the Constitution. To appear (when required by the Government of India) in any high court in any case in which the Government of India is concerned.
